Around the World in 80 Books discussion

Place any book set in North or South Korea here.

Books set in Korea:


The Calligrapher's Daughter by Eugenia Kim
The Surrendered by Chang-rae Lee
When My Name Was Keoko by Linda Sue Park
The Red Queen by Margaret Drabble
Lark and Termite by Jayne Anne Phillips
Korea's Place in the Sun: A Modern History by Bruce Cumings
by The Color of Earth by Kim Dong Hwa
Tongue: A Novel by Kyung-Ran Jo
Fox Girl by Nora Okja Keller
Bride of the Water God, Vol. 1 by Mi-Kyung Yun (several books in series)
Ten Thousand Sorrows by Elizabeth Kim
This Kind of War: The Classic Korean War History by T.R. Fehrenbach
The Two Koreas: A Contemporary History by Don Oberdorfer
Land by Kyong-Ni Park
Sondok: Princess of the Moon and Stars, Korea, A.D. 595 by Sheri Holman
Somebody's Daughter by Marie Myung-Ok Lee
Goong, Volume 1 by Park So Hee (Several books in series)
The Koreans: Who They Are, What They Want, Where Their Future Lies by Michael Breen
Seesaw Girl by Linda Sue Park
The Hunters: A Novel by James Salter
One Thousand Chestnut Trees: A Novel of Korea by Mira Stout
The New Year by Pearl S. Buck
Ten Thousand Lives by Ko Un
To Swim Across the World by Ginger Park

Books set in North Korea:


Somewhere Inside by Laura Ling
Escaping North Korea by Mike Kim
This is Paradise! by Hyok Kang
Eyes of the Tailless Animals by Soon Ok Lee
Jia by Hyejin Kim
The Aquariums of Pyongyang by Kang Chol-Hwan
A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park
Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick
Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea by Guy Delisle
The Cleanest Race by B.R. Myers
Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader by Bradley Martin
The Reluctant Communist by Charles Robert Jenkins
North Korea: Another Country by Bruce Cumings
The World Is Bigger Now by Euna Lee
Hidden Moon by James Church
Year of Impossible Goodbyes by Sook Nyul Choi
Your Republic Is Calling You by Young-ha Kim
In the Absence of Sun by Helie Lee
A Corpse in the Koryo by James Church
Still Life With Rice by Helie Lee
North of the DMZ by Andrei Lankov
Comrades and Strangers by Michael Harrold
War Trash by Ha Jin
Lost Names: Scenes from a Korean Boyhood by Richard E. Kim
Two Dreams in One Bed by Hyun Ok Park
The North Korean Revolution by Charles K. Armstrong
Hidden People of North Korea: Everyday Life in the Hermit Kingdom by Ralph Hassig
North Korea: The Paranoid Peninsula, A Modern History by Paul French
Bamboo and Blood by James Church
Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes On the World by Gordon G. Chang
North Korea at a Crossroads by Suk Hi Kim
The Man with the Baltic Stare by James Church
Long Road Home by Yong Kim
So Far from the Bamboo Grove by Yoko Kawashima Watkins

Books set in South Korea:


Please Look After Mom by Kyung-Sook Shin
Korea: A Walk Through the Land of Miracles by Simon Winchester
This Burns My Heart by Samuel Park
Once the Shore: Stories by Paul Yoon
Echoes of the White Giraffe by Sook Nyul Choi
Who Ate Up All the Shinga by Wan-suh Park
The Bird by Oh Jung-hee
Brother One Cell by Cullen Thomas
Jade Lady Burning by Martin Limon
The Kite Fighters by Linda Sue Park
I Have the Right to Destroy Myself by Young-ha Kim
The Bridges at Toko-ri by James A. Michener

More Books Set in Korea:


Tiger's Tail by Gus Lee (NK)
The Ginseng Hunter: A Novel byJeff Talarigo (NK)
The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War by David Halberstam
The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson (NK)
Retreat, Hell! by W.E.B. Griffin (NK)
Mash: A Novel About Three Army Doctors by Richard Hooker
If I Perish by Esther Kim (NK)
The Darkest Summer by Bill Sloan (SK)
Living Reed: A Novel of Korea by Pearl S. Buck
Forgotten Country by Catherine Chung
Enormity by W.G. Marshall (SK)
Brother Fish by Bryce Courtenay
The Taebek Mountains by Jo Jung-rae (SK)
First You Shave Your Head by Geri Larkin (SK)
Give Me Tomorrow: The Korean War's Greatest Untold Story by Patrick K. O'Donnell
Catchers in the Sky: Mission: Korea by Jonathan Damien
The Forgotten War: A Brief History of the Korean War by James K. Wheaton
The Reluctant Communist: My Desertion, Court-Martial, and Forty-Year Imprisonment in North Korea
Songs of My Families: A Thirty-Seven Year Odyssey from Korea to America and Back
The Iron Butterfly: Memoir of a Martial Arts Master: The True Story of a Mermaid's Daughter
Thunder in the Morning Calm by Don Brown
Dispatches from the Peninsula: Six Years in South Korea by Chris Tharp
Long for This World: A Novel by Sonya Chung
I'll Cross the River by C. Hope Flinchbaugh (NK)
Seesaw Girl by Linda Sue Park

.


The Wings by Sang Yi (South Korea)
Korea Unmasked by Won-bok RHIE (South Korea)

North Korea:
The Silla Project by John C. Brewer

Modern Korean Fiction: An Anthology by Bruce Fulton

Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West I believe is NK?

I'll Be Right There by Shin Kyung-sook (South Korea)

Tendrils of Life: A story of love, loss, and survival in the turmoil of the Korean War by Owen Choi (South Korea)

South Korea: the professional videogamer celebrities of Seoul and their hardcore training regimes feature in my book AmalgaNations.

More books set in North Korea:


All Woman and Springtime by Brandon W. Jones
The Beloved Daughter by Alana Terry
Dear Leader: My Escape from North Korea by Jang Jin-Sung
Escape from North Korea: The Untold Story of Asia's Underground Railroad
Escaping North Korea: Defiance and Hope in the World's Most Repressive Country
The Guest by Hwang Sok-yong
The Impossible State: North Korea, Past and Future by Victor Cha
The Manchurian Candidate by Richard Condon
My Life and Faith by Ri In Mo
Only Beautiful, Please: A British Diplomat in North Korea by John Everard
Princess Bari by Hwang Sok-yong
The Scariest Place in the World: A Marine Returns to North Korea by James Brady
Stars Between the Sun and Moon: One Woman's Life in North Korea and Escape to Freedom
The Tears of My Soul: The True Story of a North Korean Spy by Hyun Hee Kim
A Thousand Miles to Freedom: My Escape from North Korea by Eunsun Kim
The Three Way Tavern: Selected Poems by Ko Un
Under the Same Sky: A Memoir of Survival, Hope, and Faith by Joseph Kim
What You Don't Know About North Korea Could Fill A Book by Nhial Esso
Without You, There Is No Us: My Time with the Sons of North Korea's Elite by Suki Kim

The Great Leader and the Fighter Pilot: The True Story of the Tyrant Who Created North Korea and The Young Lieutenant Who Stole His Way to Freedom by Blaine Harden

Waxing Moon by H.S. Kim

Funereal by Giacomo Lee is set in Seoul, South Korea https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Funereal

Any recommendations for something set in Busan specifically? I am traveling there and love to get an idea of the culture and location through a novel. Thanks all!

Ashley wrote: "Any recommendations for something set in Busan specifically? I am traveling there and love to get an idea of the culture and location through a novel. Thanks all!"

Ashley, I've asked a Korean colleague from Busan for ideas, but one that I can think of is When a Rooster Crows at Night: A Child's Experience of the Korean War.

In case you weren't already aware, as you look for books, also search for "Pusan"--it's just been fairly recently that Korea has tried to standardize it's English pronunciations and Pusan was changed to Busan. (And Cheju is now Jeju, Kimpo is now Gimpo, etc.)

I'll let you know if I come up with others!

Travel wrote: "Ashley wrote: "Any recommendations for something set in Busan specifically? I am traveling there and love to get an idea of the culture and location through a novel. Thanks all!"

Ashley, I've aske..." Thank you! The name suggestion is greatly appreciated!

Diane wrote: "Books set in South Korea:

Korea, Are You at Peace?: Tales of Two Women Travelers in a Troubled Land

This book includes experiences of two women who lived in Korea for two years--a century apart--end of 19th and 20th centuries. It includes a brief history of the Korean peninsula, valuable for Westerners traveling there for the first time.

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

Everything Belongs to Us by Yoojin Grace Wuertz

The Accusation: Forbidden Stories from Inside North Korea by Bandi

The Vegetarian

The Boy Who Escaped Paradise by J. M. Lee (North Korea)

The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector’s Story by Hyeonseo Lee

Meeting Mr Kim: Or How I Went to Korea and Learned to Love Kimchi by Jennifer Barclay

In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom
City of Ash and Red
The Hole S.K.
The Good Son S.K.
The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly S.K. author
Black Flower by S.K. author, mostly set in Mexico
Our Twisted Hero S.K.
The Court Dancer
The Girl Who Wrote Loneliness S.K.
Once the Shore S.K.
Shelter
The Investigation by S.K. author, set in Japan
At Dusk
Familiar Things
The Plotters S.K. publishing Jan. 29, 2019
Our Happy Time

Untold Night and Day by Bae Suah

The Silence of Bones by June Hur

Finished Human Acts by Han Kang

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
Most takes place in USA (Oregon) but a significant part is in Korea, especially descriptive of Korean food.

Set in Korea (North and South):
On Desperate Ground: The Marines at The Reservoir, the Korean War's Greatest Battle by Hampton Sides

Lemon by Kwon Yeo-Sun.

Ask A North Korean: Defectors Talk About Their Lives Inside the World's Most Secretive Nation by Daniel Tudor.

The Invitation-Only Zone: The True Story of North Korea's Abduction Project by Robert S. Boynton

A Kim Jong-Il Production: The Extraordinary True Story of a Kidnapped Filmmaker, His Star Actress, and a Young Dictator's Rise to Power by Paul Fischer.